Swoon
by ThePoorDidntWantThisOne
Summary: "I don't know," Georg said, clearing considering his words carefully. "I think the right words at the right time could make a woman swoon." "Not me," Maria snorted, shaking her head.
_A/N: This started out light and fluffy and then turned into a dirty little ditty when I realized I could use it with an orphan scene I had written that had no place to go. I think since my other current story has so little opportunity to write anything sexy I just had an outburst._

 _There is no plot to speak of. Seriously, even if you squint there isn't one._

 _And I lost control of the Stay In Character trolley. Again._

 _So for those of you who have read my other stories, not a shocker. It's a naughty little number, caveat lector._

* * *

 **Swoon**

"Ha, not very likely," Maria gave a derisive snicker and tossed the book she had been reading onto the end of bed and gave a little wiggle to snuggle down in between the sheets.

Glancing over at Georg she briefly considered moving her feet over to tuck them underneath his legs to warm them but he was still engrossed in his reading and last time she did it without sufficient warning he jumped as though she'd bitten him. Her lip twitched with a half smile as she recalled the rather unmanly little squeak he had made. The next afternoon he came home from town with eight new pairs of hideously puce colored woollen socks, so thick she wasn't sure she could flex her foot to walk in them.

Definitely the sort of socks the poor wouldn't have wanted.

"Mm, what's not likely?" asked Georg, not looking up from the paperwork in his hand but raising his knees just a bit before reaching over with his free hand to swing her legs under his so she could warm her icy little toes.

He winced as she burrowed them underneath his warm calf and thought longingly about the socks he'd purchased. Socks that had become puppets and a makeshift rope and, in one memorable instance, a home for a wayward toad. But the sweet sparkle in her eyes and the little hum of gratitude and affection she gave him was well worth the risk of potential frostbite. It was the only gift she ever wanted from him.

Just _him_.

Try as he might to decorate her with diamonds, wrap her in silk from head to toe, and on one memorable occasion, pour most of a bottle of exquisite champagne into her bath, leaving the last of it to sip from her skin; she was the most touched when he did something small, simple, intimate.

She had smiled brilliantly and thrown her arms around him when they reached Paris and she found the edelweiss waiting for her on her pillow. His Maria been moved to tears when he sat up one night before their wedding and gave her a private concert on a piano he hadn't touched in years, and one warm evening, overcome with sentiment at seeing her in the dress she had worn as they danced the Laendler, he had asked her to finish the dance.

And had ended up bare chested and sweating with a lapful of his wife in his own gazebo as a reward for his romantic gesture.

"You were going to tell me what was unlikely?" he prompted, realizing he hadn't read a word in the last few minutes while reliving that little moment in the gazebo.

Rubbing his forehead and trying to give an impression of studiousness by pushing his glasses up on his nose and riffling the pages in front of him, he pointedly ignored the tightening in his groin at the memory of that night.

"Oh, yes, " Maria startled momentarily lost in admiring her husband in his recently acquired ' _only worn when absolutely necessary_ ' eyeglasses. Because as he had reminded her, repeatedly, he wasn't a grandfather yet, it was just a touch of eye strain.

Or so he claimed.

Pushing a palm against her breastbone and the warmth that had flooded her heart she studied him in the lamplight. This Georg, the one who wore worn pajama bottoms and nothing else to bed, who relaxed the sharp precisionuu of his shoulders only when they were alone, who let his hair get tousled and smelled of mint toothpaste and chewed the end of his pen; he was her favorite thing.

The fond smile framing her face slipped into a grimace, "It's that ridiculous book I confiscated from Liesl and Louisa when they were supposed to be doing class work. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Drivel doesn't even begin to describe it."

Georg raised a brow, "Is it an inappropriate book?"

"No, not really. You know they would never dream such things existed-and in your library no less," she shot him a knowing look and he responded with a heated glance her direction. Cleary he remembered finding her shortly after she had discovered the 'restricted section' of the library.

Maria cleared her throat at the memory of that afternoon. "Right, well, even if they did they should do a better job of hiding it. No it's not inappropriate, just silly and full of implausible romantic exhalations and the hero is just beyond belief. I don't want them having such an unattainable idea of romance and relationships. Clearly, the author has given him super powers beyond those of a normal man."

"Really? What sort of powers?" Georg gave his eyebrows a suggestive waggle.

Maria rolled her eyes, "Not that kind. Honestly! You really want to know?"

Georg tossed the papers onto his nightstand and swept the thin rimmed glasses off his aristocratic nose and set them on top of the papers. Maria sighed again, he was always handsome, but when he had the glasses on he looked like a stern professor she wanted to earn an ' _A'_ from in the _very_ worst way.

Seemingly oblivious to the dreamy gaze his wife was giving his spectacles, Georg turned to give her his full attention, his blue eyes shining. "Well, yes, now I rather have to know, seeing as you're stuck with a normal man, I might be able to improve myself."

"Darling, if you improve much more I'm not sure I would be able to handle you." She was still thinking about the glasses.

"You can handle me."

"Captain!" Maria said, placing her hand to her heart pretending to be scandalized.

"You like me that way."

"So I do."

"Well, tell me all about this hero with superhuman powers."

"Superhuman may have been stretching it, especially considering his name is Horatio…"

"Not the most romantic name I'll grant you."

"He's just unrealistic. He jumps onto moving trains, wrestles bears, fights duels and always wins, and dances beautifully. And can knit a scarf in a pinch! So silly! For example, he makes the heroine in the novel swoon in his arms just by _speaking_ to her. Who ever heard of such a thing? Or such a silly girl? Swooning because some man is talking to her! And the dialogue, the poor lovesick girl never gets a word in! So horribly bad, listen to this," Maria cleared her throat and lowered her voice comically in imitation of Horatio.

" _My dearest loveliest flower of the spring dawn covered in the dew of the ancients, how I long to sit at your feet, a devoted supplicant, and worship your beautiful proboscis…_ " Maria scoffed as Georg let out a laugh.

"If some young man had tried that on me I'd have belted him, after I stopped laughing of course."

"So I shouldn't start writing you sonnets and epic poetry about your nose to help me win your undying love and tender affections?"

"Not if they sound like that," she said gesturing to the book with distaste.

"I don't know," Georg said, clearing considering his words carefully. "I think the right words at the right time could make a woman swoon."

"Not me," Maria snorted, shaking her head. "No chance in a million that I would lose my composure in public like this, what was her name?" she reached out to grab the book and flip the pages, "Ah, like this Lulabelle character. Lulabelle..." Maria sneered, tossing the book back to the end of the bed.

"Really? I could do it," he offered with a confident shrug, as though woman passed out at his feet everyday.

"And I wouldn't need anything flowery like poor old Horatio or to wrestle a bear."

"Not a chance," Maria laughed.

He raised both his brows, "Are you challenging me?"

"Are you up to the challenge?"

Georg gave her a narrow eyed stare. "I accept."

"The Fiser's garden party? Saturday?"

"Perfect. It gives me two days to compose something epic to sweep you off your feet."

"Gives me two days to make a pillow to cushion your fall when you fail."

He laughed at her quip and brushed her bangs off her forehead in a tender gesture that she had come to appreciate. Being touched, petted, cherished all the time, was a luxury she hadn't been afforded for most of her life. And even while she she reveled in it she pushed the bubble of anxiety that threatened to well up and remind her that it could all be taken away. Pushing the fear aside she felt her eyes close as he trailed his fingertips down her cheek and rested his palm against her neck.

"Can I have kiss to seal the wager?"

"Of course," she mumbled letting her eyes flutter closed again and leaning in gently to caress his bristle shadowed cheek, whisper soft, and just as quick.

He gave an exaggerated sigh. "Not what I was hoping for. You have _terrible_ aim. I'll never make a proper sailor out of you at this rate."

"Kissed a lot of sailors have you, Captain?"

"Funny. You know I prefer pilfering potential nuns... "

"Should I try again?"

"Please. My lips are here," he pointed to his mouth, "Just in case you don't recall."

She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on his smart mouth, then she moved over to kiss his jaw, finally nipping at his earlobe and whispering in his ear, "Was that better?" Maria teased back, all the while noting his breathing had deepened and his eyes had darkened to match the inky blue of the night sky.

"Almost.." He mumbled leaning in to catch her lower lip and kiss her properly, savoring the little moan of pleasure she couldn't hold back and the fingers he felt lace into his hair as she sunk into his kiss.

* * *

"Maria! Georg! I am so delighted you could make it!" came the bright voice from just inside the entrance. Before Maria had a chance to greet her hostess, properly she was enveloped in a hug and felt herself being drawn toward the house. She looked over her shoulder to find that Georg had been commandeered by a circle of gentleman on the lawn.

"Here let me take your wrap, it's so warm out and your dress is just too lovely, it's a pity to cover it up," Leonie said, handing the wrap off to a waiting servant and leaning in to whisper in Maria's ear.

"I don't mind having a tea to celebrate the baby," she gave her stomach a fond little pat, "But our friends have already given me a shower and this group is almost all Mummy's friends and absolutely ancient relatives. I am so very glad you could come and keep me from going spare!".

"Of course!" Maria gave her a smile. She was fond of Leonie. Her husband and his family had a long history of friendship with the von Trapps. One of the first parties that Georg had taken her to after their slightly scandalous engagement was announced was at the Fiser's home. Leonie had taken one look at Maria, shy and uncomfortable in her new clothes and announced that they were going to be terrific friends. Leonie proceeded to be her champion in social situations, introducing her to half the women in Salzburg and glaring at anyone who even hinted at Maria's past as a governess. In return, had found a loyal and wonderful friend in Maria.

"No, you must understand," Leonie whispered a little desperately, clutching at Maria's arm as though she might run off, "For an hour now they have been regaling me with their war stories about their horribly painful births, sparing no gory details! Remember Admiral Finks? The one who is so heavily decorated for his service during the war and noted for his unflinching bravery? He walked in while Auntie Rosabeth was telling her rather graphic version of cousin Felix's birth and I promise you that man turned green and ran, _ran_ , back into the study. Haven't seen him since!"

Maria gave a hearty laugh and looped their arms together, "Well, we can brave them together now! At least I have no war stories to tell."

"Not yet," she winked and squeezed Maria's arm, "But you've only been married three months. And I've seen the way your husband looks at you, darling," Leonie gestured to the smoke ringed group of men on the lawn that Georg had joined, the one he was paying no attention to as he watched his wife walk away with a little smirk on his face. He was bordering on leering at her.

Maria felt herself blush and took a deep breath to stop it from spreading and to derail the train of thought that little smirk had started. To be fair, _he_ had started it much earlier really, tugging her up as he helped her out of the car upon their arrival and pulling her into one of those deep and drugging kisses he was so very good at giving her. Kissing her as though he had all the time in the world, as though they had been in their bedroom and not their friends public front drive.

"That's cheating, Captain. I can't think properly when you do that and you know it," she admonished and shook her head at him, pulling back from his arms and struggling to look him in the eye and not at his kiss swollen mouth.

"It was cheating. A bit, but I couldn't help it," he conceded, letting his eyes drag over her from head to toe before bring his gaze back up to hers and giving her no room for doubt as to what he was thinking.

"From now on I promise, words only."

"No more kissing."

"Yes sir," he said with a little salute. "It doesn't matter anyway, my love. I won't need either of those. Before this party is over you'll be _begging_ me to take you home. After you swoon, of course."

"I'm glad you're so confident," she gave his cheek a patronizing pat, "I like that in a man."

He gave a sharp chuckle and gestured toward the house, "Ladies first."

As they started toward the house she felt Georg reach down and weave his fingers through hers before lifting her hand to brush her knuckles against his mouth. Maria gave him a smile and then shot him a questioning look.

"What was that kiss back there for? Trying to hedge your bet?"

Georg gave her a serious look before flashing her a mysterious half smile, but he said nothing, keeping pace with her toward the house and simply giving her hand a squeeze. Just as they reached the brick path that lead up to the doorway he leaned in close to her ear and gave her hand a subtle tug to bring her in closer.

"Right up there our friends are waiting to greet us and we will be separated. I wanted to be able to taste you on my lips while we were apart."

Catching the glint of smug self satisfaction is his eye, Maria patted his arm with a false sense of calm and hoped her face didn't betray the warm rush she'd felt all over at his words.

"Impressive, but you'll have to try harder than that, sir."

* * *

"See what I mean?," Leonie said, startling Maria out of her memory of the very recent past. "You'll be joining the club in no time," she grinned, giving her tummy another affectionate rub.

"I already have seven at home," Maria laughed, "I am not in a rush. But I would like to join the club. Someday."

"Oh, I do wish we could go and hide away in the back garden until they all leave. But I think one of the aunts has found me," Leonie gave a wave to an elderly woman in an enormous hat that was swirling a handkerchief in the air to get her attention.

"Which one is she?" asked Maria.

"Hildegarde."

Maria gave her a blank look.

"The one that's missing her pinkie finger," Leonie said, holding her own pinkie up as though she was drinking tea.

"Oh! Yes, of course," Maria exclaimed. She tended to remember people by the little details and not the obvious ones, such as their faces.

"You don't think she is going to tell that story again do you?" Maria said, giving her own wave to the lady as she watched a gentleman dodge the enormous flaps of the hat as she plowed through the crowd.

"Mmm, most likely. Let's just be lucky she cannot tell it during dinner again," Leonie grimaced at the thought of that dinner. "I suppose we can't stall any longer. She's just such a sour person. I don't enjoy talking with her but she does seem to seek me out. Impart some of her wisdom as she says."

"Oh, she's not so bad. And we can take bets on how long that enormous, what is that bird? A pheasant perhaps? Well, whatever it is, we can wager how long it's going to stay attached to her hat while she _imparts all that wisdom_."

"You have the best ideas, Maria," Leonia gave a girlish giggle. "Still, she is so unpleasant when she gets going on one of her lectures…"

"Remind me to tell you all about Sister Berthe some time," Maria sighed and patted her friend's hand in sympathy.

* * *

Maria craned her neck a bit, all the while trying to look as though she wasn't searching the party for her missing husband. He had disappeared with an old naval colleague several minutes ago and left her behind. Just as she was about to give up hope of finding him out in the gardens she felt the heat of his body pressing closer behind her, close enough to touch if she only leaned back a fraction.

"Found you, love. No keep looking straight ahead of you," he whispered, reaching up to deftly remove her diamond earring from her lobe.

"Georg! What are-"

"I saw you, you know," he interrupted quietly.

"Watching me in the library, when I reached into my pocket for my glasses to take a closer look at Tabbart's maps. Did you think I didn't already know?" he asked, his voice teasing but low, for her ears only.

"Know what?" she whispered, confused by his choice of conversation.

"About the glasses? You _like_ them," he murmured, unable to resist running a single fingertip across the skin of her wrist before tucking his hands behind him and adopting a casual air so that anyone watching would assume he was bored beyond words.

Maria shivered at the unexpected touch and the heat in his teasing tone.

"Sometimes you even let out the most delectable little whimper when I put them on."

She bit her lip to stop the sound his suggestion had prompted.

"I can almost hear your pulse thrum harder underneath your skin. Maybe we should play sometime? I'll be the teacher and you can be my wicked student? Mm, there it is. You always blush, it's delightful. Makes me wonder how far down the blush goes?" He was practically purring in her ear. Maria bit her bottom lip harder and gave her head a little shake to keep herself from falling under his spell.

"Does the blush burn? When it spreads across your chest? Make it difficult to breath as the blood rushes lower? You're blushing right now, sweetheart. Embarrassed that I know your little secret. I know another one too," he murmured, his voice impossibly lower, his mouth so close she could almost feel his lips on her skin, the puffs of his breath enough to make her skin prickle.

"When I pitch my voice just so and speak right into the shell of your ear, your whole body responds to me, sometimes you shiver. Your nipples tighten and it's all I can do to keep myself from licking my own mouth the way I want to lick you. Taste you, draw your perfect breasts into my mouth until you cry out."

Maria's mouth dropped open with a gasp and felt herself flood with equal measures of lust and shame, frustrated with how difficult it was to stand still and pretend to be unaffected even as her knees weakened at his words alone. She could feel the rest of her body responding, her core tightening and she wondered if he knew about that as well? Probably. She let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

"I cannot wait to take you home, away from all these other men who have been watching you. Wanting you. They can look, but they don't get to touch do they, Maria?".

She shook her head no.

"This is such a lovely dress," he murmured sending is finger slaloming down her back through the line of buttons. "I'm glad you had a chance to wear it before I ruin it. I won't be able to wait to touch your bare skin or to run my hands anywhere you ask. I want to taste very freckle, kiss all your scars."

Maria heard a twig crack as he shifted behind her and she felt the pads of his fingers grip her low on her hip. She pressed her lips together but a little moan escaped anyway.

"No, no , no...there will be no holding back later on. I want to hear you when I kiss you where you crave it the most, make you melt like sugar on my tongue."

She was struggling not to pant as Georg moved away from her, knelt down for a moment, and then casually stood up next to her as though nothing had happened. She crossed her arms across her her traitorous breasts as he gave her a grin and held out her earring. She reached out to take it and had to stop herself from climbing him like a vine.

Loud enough for the small crowd around then to hear he announced, "There we are, my dear! I found it just on the grass beside you. No harm done."

"Thank you," she managed to croak out. She turned to him to take him to task but before she could get a word in there was another interruption from a dear friend and Maria was whisked away to see the new painting. It promised to take her far away from her husband. Good, she thought, perhaps she would have a chance to get a hold of herself and her wayward body before she proved him right and flat out _begged_ him to take her home.

Or to the car.

Or a coat closet.

She was clinging to her control, which was never very good in the first place; determined to win this game she had started. She had misjudged him. She had thought he would be reciting horrible poetry in her ear and they would spend the afternoon laughing and trading quips, but he hadn't. He had taken a different tactic entirely and he was managing to undo her and tie her in knots at the same time.

A few minutes of whispering and she was starting to have sympathy for the unfortunately named Lulabelle… She gave Georg a backward glance and saw him raise an eyebrow at her before tuning deftly back to the conversation around him. Maria narrowed her eyes, that scoundrel! He knew exactly what he was doing, and he was gloating! She lifted her her chin and flounced off down the hall muttering to herself about listening to Auntie Hildegarde in the future when she waxed poetic on the topic of men and laying back and thinking of Austria...

Twenty minutes later Georg wandered into a parlor and found her sitting on a horrifyingly floral settee sipping a cup of tepid tea and looking like the prim and proper lady of the manor. He felt a smile tug up the corner of his mouth, she had them all fooled. He'd caught her catching frogs by the lake with the boys just yesterday. Hip deep in water with streaks of mud on her cheeks and forehead. He rather thought he preferred her that way instead of buttoned up and acting like a 'lady'.

Noticing the space to her left was empty Georg sat down next to her, appropriately far enough away for the mixed company but close enough to brush his little finger across hers where it rested on the cushion. She have him a sly look out of the corner of her eye, letting him know she was on to his game and had obviously chosen a crowded room on purpose.

After all, with a room full of elderly ladies and gentlemen what trouble could he get into? There would be no tempting her here. No whispered words that made her gasp with desire. Stodgy tea talk with chaste subjects that would even please Sister Berthe. Satisfied with her solution she favored him with a smile and asked him calmly if he'd like a cup of tea.

"I would, thank you," he responded. Making polite conversation with the ladies surrounding him and fielding their questions about the children and the weather with aplomb Georg watched Maria out of the corner of his eye. She finished swirling his tea with a spoon and offered him the cup. He reached out and accepted the tiny porcelain cup, purposely brushing her hand with his long fingers. Maria waggled her finger 'no' at him even as she found herself drawn back into conversation with the elderly Herr Schwanzer.

"Well, I do think the children would love a dog sir, but a pyrenees might be a tad too much dog for them to handle. They do grow rather large do they not?"

"Just what the children need! All children need a dog. I can bring buy a selection of puppies in a few weeks."

"Oh, you're very kind but I really don't think-"

"Well, no my dear, they don't come in _pink_ but white and black are lovely colors. Don't you worry. I'll bring the picks of litter for your lot."

Georg leaned in and whispered in her ear, "He's deaf as a post. And not likely to remember this conversation in the morning."

"Ahh, that would have been valuable information earlier when I asked him if he'd like more tea...he looked at me with the oddest expression on his face and then gave me directions to the restroom."

Georg snorted into his tea and gave his wife a grin over the rim of the cup. He set his cup down and scooted a bit closer to her so he could reach out and thumb the pages of a book resting on the low table in front of them. Seemingly engrossed in the pages and looking for all the world like a disinterested gentleman dragged to a party by his wife. He cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Don't do that, please," he requested in a hushed tone.

"Don't do what?" Maria asked, suddenly feeling a tendril of panic at having committed yet another social faux pas of which she was unaware.

"That, right there. Where you drag your teeth across your bottom lip when you're concerned or nervous. You have no idea," he took a deep breath and leaned just a bit closer, running his hand across the glossy sheets of the book, "-what you look like. What it reminds me of. Shall I tell you what it does to me to watch you do that? When your tongue darts out and wets your lips and I wonder if your wet everywhere? I want to be the one with my teeth on your lips. Tasting you. Ah ah, chin up darling, mustn't look like you're enjoying this conversation too much." He gave the crowd a banal smile while continuing his lazy perusal of one of the maps in the book and his verbal seduction of his wife.

"I love the way your mouth looks when I have kissed you. Your lips swell like they have been stung by a bee. And I know whenever I look at them I marked you. I made your mouth mine. Watching you bite those lips reminds of what they look like, biting and sucking their way down my body. What they feel like wrapped around me. How beautiful you look when you take me in your mouth and make me shout your name."

Maria gasped, audibly. Her eyes went wide and she froze with shock at his words. Georg simply patted her on the back and waved away the concerned faces.

"Tea went down the wrong way," he explained.

"Are you alright darling?" he asked solicitously, showing the world the face if a concerned husband while the hand that had been stroking her back had fallen to the small of her back and was threatening to dip lower.

"It's um, rheumatism," she added with a touch of sarcasm just for him. Georg gave a snort at that.

Leaning down under the guise of picking up the linen napkin she had dropped he whispered, "We can leave now, you'll be thanking me, loudly, in less than a minute, I promise you."

"I haven't swooned Georg! It's just a bit stuffy in here with the tea and the people and the…"

"The what?"

"And the, hmm, conversation."

"Well, I am an excellent conversationalist."

Maria huffed at him, for once in her life without words. She was going to lose to him if she sat here another moment, smelling his cologne and watching the predatory smile spread across his face. She was almost grateful when Herr Schwanzer saved her from further discussion by falling asleep into his tea cup and spilling it all over Leonie's carpet.

Having assisted in cleaning up the tea, and Herr Schwanzer, who didn't stir from sleep in his chair during the commotion. Maria wandered out onto the back terrace to clear her head. She felt herself smile, in spite of her being aggravated at being no more than a whisper away from pleading with her husband for mercy.

Shouldn't that be the way of it? When a woman loves a man as much as she loved Georg should she not be thrilled and excited by his words?

By his confession?

By the obvious pleasure he took in her?

 _With_ _her_?

Maria hadn't been shy on her honeymoon, inexperienced perhaps, but eager to learn. Georg had been a willing teacher and a delighted student in turn. Maria glanced back into the party and her eyes glittered with her sudden change of plans as she watched her husband tuck his hands into his pockets and laugh at something. As if he could feel her eyes on him he turned and looked at her, giving her a saucy little wink. Maria shot him a devilish smile.

Two could play at this game.

Spying Leonie trapped in a corner by some of her mother's friends and looking as if she was breaking into a cold sweat Maria threaded her way through the crowd toward her. Giving the guests a quick glance to make sure no one was paying attention to her she wove past a servant with a tray of champagne and managed to squeeze in right behind an oblivious Georg. Deftly she reached out and grabbed a glass of champagne before she gave his delectable bottom a pinch.

He managed to stop himself from jumping outright but his shoulders tightened and he sloshed his drink over his arm, which caused his friends to laugh. Transferring his drink to his clean hand he began shaking the drops off his cuff all the while surveying the crowd for the culprit. And he found her.

Maria was standing next to Leonie, an innocent smile on her face but her eyes gleamed with mischief. She raised her champagne glass to him and gave him a little salut.

"Touche," he mouthed. He spent a few more minutes in conversation before excusing himself and heading over to his wife. The group of ladies was moving on to go and take a peek at Leonie's nursery, which Maria had already seen, so she opted to stay behind with Georg. He reached over to the plate she was hold and grabbed a jam slathered cookie.

"Oh! That was mine! I haven't had anything to eat," she pouted. "My appetite only just started to come back after sitting with Leonie and hearing all those women tell birthing stories. I'm glad we already have seven, after what I heard I'm not certain I want any of our own."

"Its not as bad as all that," Georg mumbled, still chewing.

"Says the man who was on a submarine for most of the time."

"Guilty," he said with a shrug.

"Hold still darling. You have a little jam, just there," Maria leaned in and rubbed her thumb across the corner of his mouth. Much slower than necessary, dragging it back across his lower lip before she raised her thumb to her own mouth and sucked the tip into her mouth.

"Got it," she smirked.

"Ah."

"Mmm, did you say something darling?"

"Uh."

"Do let me know if it comes back to you then."

"..."

"I didn't have a chance to tell you earlier, when you mentioned that you knew how much I liked you in the glasses, and I do, what I was really thinking about in that library while Tabbert was showing you those maps."

"I was thinking about how the library at our house had become one of my favorite things. And it reminded me that I might have told a little white lie about when I started to fall in love with you."

"Oh?" he raised a brow.

"A few days after you fired me-"

His expression darkened for a moment, "Still sorry about that."

"You needn't be. Your apology afterward was more than enough. You showed yourself to be every bit of the man that the Reverend Mother claimed you were when she sent me there."

"Thank you," he said, reaching out to brush his hand against hers.

"Now what was this lie about falling in love with me?"

"Well, I told you it was the whistle, and while that intrigued me I confess I started to fall for you a bit that first night I wandered into the library and ran into you.."

Georg cocked his head and gave her a puzzled look, clearly trying to recall the night. She gave him a private smile as she reached up to adjust his tie.

"As I recall," she said, wiggling the tie back and forth, "You weren't as well dressed that night as you are now…"

"Oh! I had forgotten…" he muttered, ducking to hide the pale blush that threatened. "I hadn't planned to be in there for longer than it took to grab my book from the chair."

"No shirt, trousers undone at the button, and bare feet. All I could think was that it was a shame you ever had to get dressed properly."

"I'm shocked," he teased, "What would Sister Berthe think?"

"She'd pretend to be horrified but deep down I imagine she would be thinking I was a lucky girl indeed."

Maria smiled up at him and then they turned to say goodbye to some friends who were leaving the party. Without missing a beat Maria said her farewells and turned back to Georg, "I have to confess I told you another lie."

"Another one?"

"I told you I was trouble. Do you remember that other night in our library, before we were married?"

"Mmm hmm."

"That map reminded me of the first time things went farther than kissing, the first time you touched me. We broke that framed map on the wall, do you recall how?"

Georg closed his eyes for a moment, "Yes," he managed, his voice tight as he worked to maintain control.

"I couldn't sleep and I told you I was too excited by everything, but that was a lie. After that night I found you half naked I paid closer attention. I knew that you frequently went down to the library to choose a book or to read in peace. I was hoping to run into you…"

"I know. I always went down hoping to find you there," he said, a little bit of smugness in his tone.

"You had kissed me before, of course. But that night it was different. I walked into the room and you didn't say a word. Just stared at me," she whispered, leaning in closer to him to ensure she wouldn't be overheard.

"The next thing I knew I was in your arms and your hands.. I had never wanted anything so much in my life than for you to lose that admirable discipline and have me, right there and right then. Alone, in my room that night, your hands were all I could think about...and well," she suddenly felt her bravado falter. She couldn't play at this game as well as he could.

"Did you…" Georg's eyes bored into hers, demanding an answer, she pushed aside her shyness and simply blurted out the truth.

"Oh yes, and when the pleasure came I cried out your name, I was terrified you might have heard me, but secretly hoped you had."

"You win," he growled, clasping her hand in his tightly and pulling her toward the door. "If it was evenly remotely acceptable for me to swoon in a roomful of my former colleagues I would be at your feet. You shall have to settle for me begging you later on."

"Begging?"

"God yes. Can you not walk faster?"

"I have to say thank you and goodbye to Leonie-"

"Tomorrow. Write her a letter. Send her a telegram, I don't care but we are leaving. Now."

She managed a weak wave in Leonie's direction and caught her knowing wink as she was whisked out the door and into the car. She wondered what people must think. She hoped they suspected there had been an emergency with one of their infamous children.

Maria looked over and saw the white knuckle grip he kept on the steering wheel and was grateful in more ways than one that the Fiser's home was so close to their own.

"Are we headed home?" she asked, keeping her voice calm even as the car lurched forward as Georg peeled out onto the road.

"Yes, I'm sure I can make it there. Just don't touch me. I cannot promise that we won't be caught on the side of the road in a compromising position," he growled.

"But the children and Max-"

"Are gone. I called him, about an hour ago. I made him a very lucrative offer if he would take them all into town for the afternoon."

"You did?"

"I did. Did you not think I was affected by those things I was whispering to you?"

"But you seemed so-"

"I wasn't. I'm not."

"Oh."

"We haven't been properly alone since our honeymoon."

"And we won't be today, with Franz and Frau Schmidt and Hannah…"

"Gone as well. Max had instructions to give them the afternoon off as well."

"Don't you think they will be suspicious?"

"No," Georg chuckled. "I imagine they will know exactly what we are up too."

"Georg! How will I face them?"

"You faced them just fine this morning, did you not?"

"Well, but that was," she sputtered for the right words, "This morning was different," she gave a haughty sniff. "Its expected between us, at night. In our room."

"Seven children. They expect it of me during the daytime too," he leered pulling the car into their own driveway and sending her a playful look as he hopped out to run around the car and let her out.

He held his hand out in a proper imitation of their butler, "Good afternoon, Baroness. May I escort you inside?"

"Honestly," she rolled her eyes and slapped her hand into his playfully, "you are-" she finished her sentence on a squeak as he hauled her up against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. Delighted at the reappearance of the Georg she had become acquainted with in their honeymoon she tilted her face up for a kiss. He beamed down at her and gave her a little peck on the cheek before she felt him pinch her bottom.

"Captain!"

"Revenge for earlier," he called over his shoulder as he took off at a run for the house. "Catch me if you can, Fraulein!"

Maria kicked off her shoes and grabbed up her skirts as she gave chase into the house. She could hear his laughter echoing and knew he had run through the foyer and was heading toward the kitchen. She slowed down as she approached the still swinging door and carefully reached out to stop the door as she peeked in. He wasn't in there. She walked through the kitchen and heard his voice call her faintly.

"Georg?" she called, opening a door on her left that she didn't think she had been through before. The room was tiny and cluttered with shelves filled with woodworking tools and long wooden workbench. Curious she stepped inside and ran her hand along the grain of the wood on the worktable.

"Gotcha!" Georg exclaimed as he jumped out from behind the door. She screamed and then immediately started to laugh at herself for not paying better attention.

She felt the backs of his warm fingers brush across her cheek, "I'm sorry to have frightened you love, it's just that suddenly I remembered how delightful it was to have someone to tease." He let out a little self conscious chuckle, "A playmate really."

Sobering again he raised his palms to cup her jaw and tilt her face toward his, "I don't-. I love you, more than I thought possible. It's been a long time and if I went too far... I'm grateful and I-"

She cut him off with a sweet kiss of understanding before she mumbled a muffled, "Me too," against his lips. He kissed her again, just a little harder. As she drew back he watched the play of the light on her shadowed face, most of it landing to illuminate the pulse at her neck and make the delicate skin of her collarbones glow.

"Pretty," he said absently as he traced the lines of her neck.

"No one called me that before you."

"They thought it."

She shook her head no.

"Yes. I thought I was going to have to ask a few of those younger bucks to step outside with me for a lesson in the appropriate way to look at my wife."

"The appropriate way?"

"Yes, as in, not at all."

She leaned into him and reached up to weave her fingers into his hair before she pressed a kiss on his lips, running her tongue along the seam to entice him into deepening it. He let out a soft groan and felt his hands grip the curves of her hips and tug, his fingertips digging in slightly with the need for her to be close.

Her hands slid from his hair to curl around his neck drawing him down into a deeper kiss even as she balanced on her toes to slide her hips against his, swaying slightly. With each brush of her body he felt his control slip a bit more, the need to be closer to her, inside her, was beginning to claw at him. All that teasing and telling her exactly what he would like to be doing with her had taken its toll on him. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to be patient enough. He feared he might really shred her dress, the beast inside him was drowning out the cultured disciplinarian.

He had such grand plans. Plans that involved the enormous bed upstairs.

But he feared they were not going to make it that far.

Sensing that she didn't have his undivided attention Maria gave a little nip to his bottom lip and feathered kisses along his jaw, biting at his earlobe and flicking her tongue against the shell, inhaling the spicy smell of his aftershave and that something indefinable that was just Georg. He let out a low chuckle as he felt her nuzzling up to his neck and sniffing at him as she was want to do right after he had showered. He gave her his full attention then, running his hands down over her backside and giving her a playful squeeze, enjoying the way his caresses brought her into contact with his own greedy hips.

He slid his hands up her sides, over her ribs and covered her breasts with his palms, running his thumbs over her nipples and feeling her shiver with pleasure and arch into his hands. The dress she was wearing was high at the collar and much too tight for him to simply pull down and free her lovely body to his gaze. He lifted his lips from hers and murmured her name.

"Maria?" he growled a little low, a little desperate.

"Yes?" she asked breathless and off balance from his kisses and the frustrating pleasure of his hands teasing her through her dress.

"Turn."

"Mmm?"

"Turn around," he said again, twirling his finger in a tight circle. Maria turned around, showing him her back with the glint of the buttons catching the light from the window. Georg reached up and slowly popped each one free, baring another inch of her delicious skin and the delicate silk of her chemise. Slowly he drew it down until he reached the end, making certain to drag his fingertips down. He watched the skin of her neck pebble in response.

"Beautiful," he said, unsure if it was to himself or to her. He ran a single finger down her spine, marveling at how many times he had seen her back and how he knew he would never tire of watching her, touching her. He had the sudden urge to press his mouth against the small of her back and taste his way back up to her neck. He felt her start to turn back around to face him but he gripped her arms and held her in place.

"No. Just stay. Just as you are," he whispered, hearing her begin to breath faster, reaching up for the shoulders of her dress and peeling the fabric down her arms. He reached down and grabbed the sides of her chemise and drawing iv over her head. He gave a practiced twist of the wrist to her bra and sent it to the floor, baring her breasts to the air but not his gaze. He let the dress fall to her hips as he let his lips fall to her neck; his thumbs skating across her nipples. She leaned back into him with a soft cry, giving a little wiggle that sent the dress to the floor. Maria let her head loll onto his shoulder, giving him better access to her neck and an exquisite view of his hands working her body into a fever. Her nipples tightened desperately harder as he gently rubbed them between his index fingers and thumbs, enjoying the sound of her whimpers.

Maria reached back and gripped the sides of his trousers, yanking his his body into hers, her backside cradling his hips and causing him to give a stuttered grunt. He had almost no restraint left. Quickly losing sight of his original plan to take his sweet time and kiss her everywhere as a reward for catching him and then sweeping her off her feet and into his bed. Georg realized as he trailed a hand over the soft skin of her navel and found the edge of her knickers that it had been a ridiculous plan. There was no way he could resist joining them, hot and heavy, and his body demanded that it be _soon_.

Georg slid his hand down, thinking to tease her but found that his own need won out and he simply slid his hand into her knickers. His wife was panting now, wet for him, trembling.

"Right here, now," he growled his teeth grazing her shoulder. "Like this. Yes?" he asked, sliding his fingers into her warmth, pressing a hand between her breasts to hold her up as her knees gave. Maria reached out and grabbed the high workbench in front of her, feeling the rough wood underneath her hands and the soft wool of his trousers brush her thighs, as nodded to her husband.

"I, ah, Georg please, I can't think when you…" she trailed off, stammering.

She felt his body lean over hers, his breath in her ear, the sight of her nearly nude while he stood behind her fully dressed undoing him.

"Tell me. Say you want this, want _me_ ," he hissed pushing his heated body against hers, letting her feel how much he craved her, his long fingers plunging inside again and again, feeling her muscles clench.

"Yes, I...plea-," but she never finished the word. Georg shifted and simply reached down and ripped the silk of her panties, shredding them.

Feeling her start to protest, he shushed her, "I'll buy you more, dozens, just so I can take them off anyway I please."

Running his hands down her sides and tracing a pattern around the dimples at the small of her back, he pressed kisses and little licks against the skin of her neck before snaking a hand back to tease her center, dipping deeply. She crumbled onto the workbench, her elbows catching her weight, most likely bruising but Maria felt no pain, only anticipation, her heart hammering, feeling the heat pouring off Georg, she turned her head to peer at him over her shoulder. He was staring, eyes almost black. She bit her lip, knowing she was giving him exactly the view he had told her he loved on their honeymoon. She felt wanton and wicked, _desired_. She deliberately licked across her bottom lip, swollen from his kisses, and suddenly he was flush against her. He slid his free hand down her arm and covered her hand with his, tangling his fingers with hers, the other hand made short work of his zipper.

Without warning he was inside her, filling her, teasing them both with each slow sweep into a lazy rhythm. Panting with the effort to hold back he concentrated on his wife, on watching her reactions, the telltale little signs she always gave to indicate she was ready for more. But she gave none, having surrendered to the passionate nature of her husband she gave him a hard stare from behind her lashes and demanded _more, harder_.

Georg felt his control fall away as swore and gripped her with both hands and snapped his hips in counterpoint to her whimpered demands. He could feel her bones underneath his fingertips, knew he was pressing to hard, leaving marks and yet he couldn't stop. He could see the white grip of her knuckles and knew the bench would bear the deep half moon marks of her nails for months. He could feel the tingle and burn of his orgasm gathering at the base of his spine, the beads of sweat gather on his neck as he tried desperately to hold back.

"Maria, I can't-," he gasped, feeling her tighten up, her fingers scrabbling against the bench, digging in just before she gave a hoarse scream that was he supposed might have been his name. He was beyond words, impossibly hard and gasping, he sunk deeper as Maria came apart. Georg felt a shudder wrack his frame before the deep ripples of inky dark pleasure tore through him, and there was no sound and no sight, only Maria holding him, grounding him.

As he slowly came back to himself he reached down and swept Maria into his arms, depositing her on top of the workbench in front of him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his forehead against hers. He just wanted to drown for one more minute in her.

He felt her run her fingers into his hair, pushing his locks back and then smoothing back over them. She was practically petting him, he gave a weak chuckle and rolled his forehead a little against hers.

"Just in case you hadn't noticed, this is me swooning."

Maria laughed aloud and pushed at his chest a bit so she could look him in the eye, rather enjoying the way the workbench she was perched in made him almost equal in height.

"I was very close a few times myself," she admitted.

"Oh, I could tell. You had a permanent blush on your cheeks."

She shot him an annoyed look but ended up grinning at him.

"What is this room?"

"It was my father's. He liked to dabble in woodwork. He enjoyed making things. He was bloody awful at it though. When he grew too old to make the trek down to the shed by the end of the property my mother had this room cleared and made into a workshop for him. I didn't clear it out after he passed."

"How nice."

"I, uh, didn't mean for us to end up here."

"It was worth the splinters," she joked.

"Shall we take this upstairs or would you rather just move on to the music room?"

"Very funny. Besides we have already been in the music room," she said saucily, hopping off the bench and bending down to retrieve her crumpled dress from the floor."

Georg snatched it out of her hand, "You won't be needing that."

"Well then I would say you're overdressed if you have future plans for our bedroom."

"I'll be sure to remedy that," he said, sweeping her up into his arms.

"Except for these," she murmured reaching into his lapel pocket and removing the glasses.

* * *

 _Well, that happened. Hope you enjoyed!_


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